Yellow and white liquidation signs on the front of The Exclusive Company, a record store in Janesville, advertise a full inventory sell-off in February of 2022 after the independent record chainÃÛèÖÊÓƵ family ownership decided to close the long-running store. It was one of The Exclusive CompanyÃÛèÖÊÓƵ seven Wisconsin locations, all of which closed.Â
Yellow and white liquidation signs on the front of The Exclusive Company, a record store in Janesville, advertise a full inventory sell-off in February of 2022 after the independent record chainÃÛèÖÊÓƵ family ownership decided to close the long-running store. It was one of The Exclusive CompanyÃÛèÖÊÓƵ seven Wisconsin locations, all of which closed.Â
JANESVILLE — The former Exclusive Company record store on Milton Avenue in Janesville is about to go exclusively pizza. Or at least, the front half of the building is.
According to preliminary plans, the Milton Avenue-facing portion of the former independent music shop is set to undergo major renovations, including a glass-and-metal exterior facelift, as it is transformed into a walk-in DominoÃÛèÖÊÓƵ Pizza store. The plans include a drive-up window for to-go orders.
Mandy Witt, a local commercial property broker with Coldwell Banker Commercial McGuire-Mears & Associates who worked on the purchase of the building, said sheÃÛèÖÊÓƵ helping the new owner secure a tenant for the rear half of the 3,900-square-foot former rock and roll emporium at 1259 Milton Avenue.
Raising Dough already owns the DominoÃÛèÖÊÓƵ at 1260 Milton Ave., in a strip mall directly across the street from the former Exclusive Company. Witt said the ownerÃÛèÖÊÓƵ intention is to move the pizza business across the street. She did not give a timeline for the relocation.
Officials at the city of JanesvilleÃÛèÖÊÓƵ planning department said Thursday they hadn’t received renovation plans for the former music emporium, but preliminary renderings that Witt shared show a significant facelift happening, including the addition of a large glass façade facing Milton Avenue, prairie-style awnings, DominoÃÛèÖÊÓƵ signs and emblems, and the drive-up window on the south side of the building.
Jason Scheel, who operates the current Milton Avenue Domino's location and another Domino's on West Court Street, said he'd been eyeing the Exclusive Co. property for years because of the building's size and its parking lot configuration, which would allow for a wraparound drive-up.
Scheel expects to open the new store in early summer.
The Exclusive Company, an independent record store chain that had operated since 1956, closed all seven of its Wisconsin stores last spring after founder and owner James “Mr. G.†Giombetti died in late 2021.
The Exclusive Company had been run out of the Milton Avenue location for 20 years before it sputtered to a close in April after a weeks-long inventory liquidation run by a third-party auctioneer.
The record sellerÃÛèÖÊÓƵ exterior signs and hand-painted mural featuring music icons including Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash were removed last year when the store was shuttered, and the building went on the market.
The buildingÃÛèÖÊÓƵ stark white exterior under the DominoÃÛèÖÊÓƵ renovation will change to a motif of tan and gray, accented by DominoÃÛèÖÊÓƵ signature Red, White and Blue emblem.
The publicly-traded DominoÃÛèÖÊÓƵ, which has more than 5,500 U.S. locations, has operated since 1960, when it was founded in Ypsilanti, Michigan, according to a company history.
This report has been updated to include commentary from Janesville Domino's franchise owner-operator Jason Scheel.
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